Ron Paul: Race, Ritual and the Scottish Rite

The Widow's Sons

UPDATE: This article is about hypocrisy and duplicity-- and how Libertarian propaganda is being used to obscure a distinctly reactionary agenda-- not Freemasonry per se. Please read the whole thing --and some of the insightful comments as well-- before making your mind up one way or another. And please be aware that The Secret Sun is both a kneejerk-free zone and a dues-paying member of the Reality-Based High Weirdness Community.

Well, the Clownshow's back in town and from the looks of things it going to be clownier than ever before. We have a Wall Street underling in the White House who is attacked regularly by his opposition party as a "socialist," even though intelligent (read: non-racist) conservatives acknowledge he's governing as a classic Rockefeller Republican (with all that implies for parapolitics watchers, I might add).

On the other side of the aisle the GOP leadership has put its hopes ina candidate who may well have been manufactured in Skynet's Terminator factory and is instinctively loathed by 75% of his own party. So much so that he got the scare of his life from an overgrown altar boy (with all that implies for parapolitics watchers, I might add).

Gee, why does Iowa vote first?

Then there's the Great White Hope of the Libertarian/Neo-Confederate alliance, Ron Paul. No one is quite acknowledging it (except his son, judging from his facial expression last night), but Paul needed to win last night more than anyone else and was in fact polling as such.

Paul's mystique is built on being the supposed champion of the Silent Majority and coming in a weak third to the two of the lamest candidates in living memory-- and in a caucus where Independents and Democrats could register as Republicans and vote-- doesn't exactly bolster that image.

But caucuses aren't primaries and apparently they tend to winnow out the enthusiastic but impatient. A lot of his support on the ground were his version of Deadheads- true believers from out of state hitching a ride on the campaign trail. Most of the younger voters are attracted to Paul's antiwar and anti-Prohibition policies while tending to ignore his more problematic domestic agenda.

"They've got it all backwards."

Even so, I'm not going to try to argue with Paul's Deadheads anymore. Why? Because I now understand the very sophisticated coded messages he's sending out there (more than they do, perhaps) and I think I better understand the powerful emotional response they instill now.

I was actually hoping he'd win so he could do maximum damage to the duopoly and expose the Clownshow for what it really is. Maybe he still will, but I feel a corner has turned. The soda's lost its fizz.

For all his talk of reason, Paul is hitting a bruised and disoriented Middle America -- particularly the white working class-- with a powerful, symbolically-charged emotional stew promising a return to antebellum Southern folkways and an America better described in the Articles of Confederation than the Constitution.

I certainly understand why this is so seductive in these days of Globalism and multiculturalism, even if I don't agree with it. But the fact remains that he's sending a different coded message to his fellow initiates.

I didn't vote in 2008 and I don't plan to vote in this election either so I have no clown in this show. And besides, what's much more fascinating to me is Ron Paul's almost compulsive display of high initiate secret society symbolism. Which is to say that although other bloggers have claimed that Paul is a Mason --including some Masons themselves-- he has denied it (kind of). But that hasn't exactly stopped speculation on the issue.

All I can say for sure is that if walks like a duck, talks like a duck and performs high initiate ritual like a duck....

In the first place, Republican criticism of the Ron Paul Newsletters is pretty rich given the language in them is identical to what's heard on the AM talk radio circuit that GOP lawmakers and power brokers work every hour of every day.

I think Paul sees himself in a long tradition of paternalist Southern conservatives who understand the way the world really works, son, and think everything will return to its idyllic, antebellum state once that pesky, outside-agitatin' Federal Government with its sissy talk about "civil rights" is done away with for good.

In this, Paul falls smack dab into the old/new (Masonic) hierarchy of the South, which believes passionately in natural orders, natural laws and especially, natural hierarchies. Unfortunately, working class whites don't figure much higher than blacks in this natural order.

What Northern liberals never understood is that the Masonic Dixiecrats (who enriched themselves with New Deal millions and then turned around and shattered the New Deal coalition) were not drooling, foaming, bloviating racists as you might see in a Hollywood movie.What they really hated were do-gooders and busybody outsiders who don't understand "the natural order of things."

Scottish Rite Freemasons like Albert Pike, Strom Thurmond (who kept a black lover who bore his child), Jesse Helms and Trent Lott invented the language of "state's rights" and "limited government" that Paul peddles everywhere he goes. Northerners might be totally baffled by this language but it strikes a deep and powerful chord for a lot of conservative Southerners (and now Tea Party rightists everywhere).

In a January 4, 2008 article on the Official Confederate States of America (CSA) Government website, it was claimed that Ron Paul was "the only candidate who might be friendly to the restoration of the Confederacy" ...The article also stated that the CSA has "known for years Ron Paul to be essentially a Confederate in his stand on the issues"

But if you read his platform carefully you'll see that Paul differs from his CSA friends in that he would dismantle the entire Federal government and impose a de facto Confederate system on the North as well.

And Stormfront founder Don Black assumes the same thing about Paul that I did when he started showing up in parapolitcal literature in the 80s- he was a true blue Confederate:

“Everybody, all of us back in the 80′s and 90′s, felt Ron Paul was, you know, unusual in that he had actually been a Congressman, that he was one of us and now, of course, that he has this broad demographic–broad base of support.”

Speaking among the initiates at Georgetown- note Masonic symbols

But this is not about "race hate" for Paul. That's for the help. This is about dismantling the Federal system-- finishing the work begun in the Civil War-- and returning to the Feudal system that ruled the South since colonial times. The way things should be.

That Paul is a transplanted Northerner shows just how powerful this vision of the world can be outside of Dixie (no one is more committed to a cause than a converted enemy). And that this all squares nicely with Ayn Rand's Liber AL teleology shows it's not limited to America either.

Lying about the secret?"The Secret Lies with Charlotte" was the key to the Masonic secrets in National Treasure

In this handwritten letter (note the reverse of the Great Seal) to a "Charlotte" published on his site Paul denies being a "Freemason." And here's where we come to the classic non-denial denial. A "Free" Mason is a member of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masonic Order. There are other Orders that do not define themselves as "Free." Several, actually.

And as longtime Secret Sun readers know, the Free-masons are the low men on a much bigger Masonic totem pole in which Masonic-inspired and Masonic-created fraternities and secret societies wield the true power. And here's where we hit paydirt...

Funeral services were held on Wednesday, June 5, at the Oliver H. Bair funeral parlors in Philadelphia. Cremation and private burial were in Woodland Cemetery. Masonic services were conducted by Lodge 51, of which he was a past master, the preceding evening with his close friend and associate, past Grand High Alpha Fischer, in his station of senior warden.

ThatLambda Chi is in fact a Masonic fraternity and not just a drinking club is made clear by its original seal, prominently featuring a Masonic handshake. Lambda Chi also includes an inner body called "The Mason's Circle," a classic example of esoteric double-entendre.

It's current seal also features the handshake, which is overshadowed now by explicit Knights Templar (and Solar) iconography, as well as the cojoining of the cross and the crescent, which is a byword for the Order.

Let's recap:

• Is Ron Paul a Free-mason? Probably not.

• Is he a member of at least one Masonic fraternity? Without question.

• How seriously does he take the Masonic craft itself? Oh, you have no idea...

Paul's Presidential announcement should tickle the fancy of Masonic ritual watchers, for both obvious and more obscure reasons.

• Second was the physical location-- in the Exeter (NH) Town Hall, which is a literal stone's throw from the "Star of the East" Masonic lodge. More on Exeter in just a bit, since it's crucial to Masonic history.

In a rare planetary event, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, will appear together (within around 2 degrees of each other) in the eastern sky just before dawn this Friday. The event will be particularly spectacular for Sydneysiders. From 5am, the four planets will be clearly seen just above the horizon in the east. The brightest planet will be Venus sitting in the middle of the group. Just above and to the left of Venus and almost as bright is Jupiter. To the right of Jupiter and slightly fainter will be Mercury. Sitting below these three planets and fainter again will be Mars.

So not only do we have acknowledged secret society initiate Ron Paul announcing on what is essentially a Masonic holy day, it's during an ultra-rare planetary alignment and takes place literally across the street from a Masonic Lodge. If that isn't meaningful to you, you're reading the wrong blog. The scope of this ritual is breathtakingly audacious.Obama-worthy, even.

But if the Masonic tradition is as important to you as it was to your direct ideological forebears, announcing your candidacy in a town named "Exeter" would have an added ritual super-charge.

"For purposes of discussion it may be assumed that even ifthere had been no operative societies coming down from aremoter antiquity, the guild system itself would haveproduced them. When artisans of all other classes andcallings were uniting themselves into such groups, it wouldhave been strange indeed if the stone masons had not doneso also. If not a single record of their medieval existencecould be found, it still would be safe to infer they did exist. Asa matter of fact there are records of Masonic guilds both inEngland and on the continent.

"The term Freemason (first) occursin the fabric rolls of Exeter Cathedral in the year 1396."

Now will any of this sway Ron Paul's acolytes from his cult? No, of course not. It's not intended to. There's no way I can compete with this guy's multimillion dollar propaganda machine or the thousands of his alt-media sycophants.

Besides, no one understands the appeal of turning back the clock more than me (though for me it's the mid-90s). And Paul's radicalism might wake people up and inspire liberals and conservatives in northern states to realize they have a lot more in common with each other than they do with Paul's Confederate revanchists and start taking large-scale secession (and the Second Amendment) more seriously.

And you know me- I love this stuff. The Obama crew has been awfully quiet symbol-wise and I was just getting ready to tune the whole Clownshow out. And I still want Paul to be the turd in the party's punchbowl-- and wake Northern conservatives up to exactly who the hell they've been in bed with for the past 30 years.

That's the great thing about extremists- they tend to clarify issues that the more moderate can obscure.

POSTSCRIPT: Maybe I was wrong- maybe it is about race hate for Ron Paul. This is the most disgusting political ad I've ever seen. Of course, it will be disavowed-- after the message sinks in. Of course.

Just like the newsletters.

Oh, we'll hear the usual denials and talk of "false flags," but seeing this is hot on the heels of Huntsman's Twilight Zone parody of Paul (and the Globe's endorsement of JH), it feels a lot more like "getting someone to do your dirty work while you maintain plausible deniability" to me.

Sidebar: For Secret Sun purposes Exeter, NH is important in that one of the most puzzling UFO flaps in the 1960s occurred there, inspiring the bestselling book Incident at Exeter. Phillips Academy Exeter is also there, the sister school to the more well-known Phillips Academy Andover over the border, the school of choice for the plutocratic elite.

For the geeks: Exeter founder John Phillips coined the phrase, "With great power comes great responsibility."

I deleted the KFC bumper sticker since no one seemed to understand that it was a joke and not part of the story. All of the other campaign logos are official.

GREAT post, and I think you summarized Paul's character in a nutshell. Few in the "truth seeker" crowd recognize how truly dangerous his alliance with, borrowing your term here, the neo-confederacy, truly is. Personally, I've traveled all over the states and was truly shocked by the comparative level of poverty and desperation in the Bible Belt, which is quite like a third world country in some areas. Back then I didn't make the connection between widespread conservative ideology and the absolute base living standard for blue collar workers, many of whom are living in unheated trailer parks with only the most minimal education. Add libertarian corporatism into this equation and the plantation system could be easily resurrected. However, I think it's a mistake to assume that the political power base is centered in the Southern states, since it discounts the reality of international investment banks which are not tied to any particular locality.

As far as the architecture of the NWO secret society network, one VERY crucial element of the story you're missing is the Knights of Malta who have been highly influential in installing right wing dictators in South American countries with the help of US intelligence agencies. Rick Santorum is a member, as were three separate CIA directors, Chilean dictator General Pinochet and the famous anti-NWO freedom fighter Pat Buchanan. Some of this information is from an essay, Origins of the Overclass, written by leftist journalist Steve Kangas, who died of a gunshot wound to the head under "unclear circumstances"(according to Wikipedia).I highly recommend for anyone interested in dismantling conspiratainment disinfo to look into his work as well as the KOM connection.http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-overclass.html There is a clear reason why the freemasons receive an undue share of media attention-- because they can easily be demonized as godless communists/secular humanists. Not so much the KOM, who were very much committed to squashing Latin American socialist uprisings. In fact, Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersch believed them to be behind the formation of the necons. http://whowhatwhy.com/2011/02/23/pulitzer-prize-winner-seymour-hersh-and-the-men-who-want-him-committed/

Great post, Chris. I'm no supporter of Ron Paul and have noted his possible racist sentiments in old ghost-written newsletters, yet does anyone honestly believe that the US government can ever solve its debt crisis by continuing endless wars and throwing away barrels and barrels of cash to faceless millionaires and billionaires via the federal reserve?

He is anti-war, but his stance ending various social programs (which are two-edged swords anyway) is very worrisome. I highly doubt I will vote this time around as my complete disappointment and disillusionment with Obama has crushed my political spirit. Perhaps, that is a good thing. I also congratulate you on the Ayn Rand and Liber Al/The Book of the Law connection as I've done the same a while back. You're the first person I've seen do this on any blog, so far. Keep up the good work.

One more comment in regards to secession: it's important here to bring up the fact that, if you look up racial demographics by state, you'll see that the Bible Belt has the highest proportion of African-Americans BY FAR. So essentially, if the North seceded it would mean that the descendants of the transatlantic slave trade would be left to fend for themselves in the New corporatized Confederacy. We're talking the Hurricane Katrina Superdome situation on repeat with no hope for relief. This idea is morally problematic on so many levels and honestly it surprises me to hear you suggest it because it reeks of Cointelpro sink-or-swim libertarianism(to once again borrow your own phrase). ???

The secession part escaped my attention the first time, in case my previous posts seemed contradictory. But all in all, many insightful were connections were made even if I disagree with the suggested course of direction.

Venus, it's my belief that the JFK assassination was in fact a coup. The most radical right wing elements have been controlling the country ever since, moving the country farther and farther to the right and bleeding the northern states dry to finance the National Security State. How much longer that can continue when people like Ron Paul want to dismantle any remaining protections that the Federal system offers to us is a question everyone is going to have to take extremely seriously. I am a firm believer in decentralization as well as the right to regional identity. Hopefully saner heads will prevail and this rocket ride back in time will reverse itself.

Spot on Chris. Thank you for so much insight to Ron Paul. His anti war/isolationist platform is indeed something to look at. I still vote. Obama has removed our sons and daughters from Iraq (or repositioned them for Iran?), I am for any plutocracy that will exist without the desire to make war. Too bad there is none in sight. So greed,war and non-humanity based politics is what exists in this black iron prison. One can hope the new paradigm will be based on the golden rule.Shineforth brave souls. Dennis

I believe in decentralization too and am no fan of the federal government being the default arbiter of social aid. At the same time I don't think that isolationism of the variety proposed by Ron Paul is a solution to anything because privileged people have a responsibility to help the disenfranchised no matter where they are located. Sudden shocks like the kind of welfare cuts fiscal conservatives want to enact would be catastrophic. I would place the secession of the North in the same category of ideas that would immediately cause volatile social uprisings and mass displacement that could even result in civil war if secession idea ever got off the ground in the first place. Because it wouldn't be happening without a militarized border and we don't need more of those. Personally, I think bioregional governments are the absolute ideal(this is one of the principles of permaculture design), but this must be coupled with practical responsibility towards those who are immiserated by globalist austerity measures. Decentralized aid groups such as Doctors Without Borders, which functions independently of government or military aid, have got the right idea and hopefully more groups will take after their example.

Scratch that--apparently Doctors Without Borders does have UN affiliations. But there are still some grass roots organizations doing the necessary work of providing aid to communities that have been negatively impacted by neoliberal policies. There will need to be more of these if resistance against centralization is ever going to be more than a pipe dream. A century ago independent homeopathic hospitals proliferated and were more successful than allopathic hospitals for treating the Spanish Flu. That was before the Rockefellers outlawed them through regulation. If decentralized yet simultaneously international organizations like those don't come together in time, local governments will be reduced to survivalism and citizen militias. This is a planet of finite resources, after all.

Let me add my "Bravo!" to those above. Thanks for the insight into what's going on--the media in the UK do everything they can to avoid the subject of Ron Paul. The average Brit has no idea who he is, or what he stands for, let alone the information you have provided. Again: Bravo!

What's wrong with restoring the Confederacy? The entire point of the civil war was for the FedGov to deny self-determination to the South in the same way they deny it to Jordanians, Iraqis, Palestinians, and so on and so forth, today.

Frankly, the most racist entity in the entire country is FedGov, and the entire War on Drugs is proof of that. Just look up incarceration rates for blacks and SEE that the government is a racist, collectivist oppressor.

Enough of the fuckin' non sense. What's to be done? You guys are all clandestine this and Illuminati that. But what's the answer? What's to be done if the Masons, free or not control everything we do? I've had enough of the fear mongering. What are we supposed to do? Just kill a bunch of people? I mean, that seems to be the only option left to us oppressed masses according to you people. Please, any response with a real answer is appreciated. Please refrain from using stupid terms like "sheeple" and Alex Jones. Spare me "you're just ignorant" philosophies. Thanks.

I'm not exactly sure how I'm making the wrong argument. I don't have any particular affinity for Ron Paul. But there never seems to be any answers when these things surface. It all leads to symbols and secret handshakes and shit that's never been proven. It's all speculation despite what everyone says they "know". I'm not discounting yours or anyone's beliefs I'm just sick of reading this shit with no 100% proof. I want to be as free and happy as the next guy but there seems to be no one to follow. These sites are always telling you who not to follow and it never gets anywhere. Just endless circular logic. And like i said "short of killing all these 'leaders' what's to be done"?

I really like your analysis of Dr. Paul and am pretty much in the same camp: I'll vote for him if I get to chance to but Libertarianism is a slippery slope. It'd be nice to see a Paul regime make an attempt to disrupt/dismantle a few bureaucracies for a couple years. And I am certain he'd rally the troops as commander in chief. However, I think you've missed the most important plank of his platform to end (or at least audit)a corrupt and criminal Fed.

BTW, a mason has no reason to lie about his status, particularly if he is an elected pubic officer. There's no conspiracy here. Altho it is damn odd that his wife and daughters are in the Craft (which means his father-in-law was) and he's not.

I think he shakes hands in a funny way because he's got a bit of arthritis and its easier to do it that way when you do it a thousand times a day.

Living- Paul belongs to a Masonic Fraternity- that's a matter of public record. I said quite clearly I don't believe he's AFAM. Click the secret society tab and dig into the archives about the Masonic nature and origin of college fraternities.

Jaxx- you too. I've included links about all of this pertaining to Masonry and Freemasonry. I don't subscribe to the ridiculous snakehandler and pantpisser fantasies about all-powerful monolithic Masons at all.

Chris, you do a great job on the Secret Sun straddling the line between occult/perception of reality/history/research/and personal convictions, it's what makes your blog one of the most interesting to read, I always anticipate new posts because of your ability to tie the "real world" with unseen creative forces.

It's no secret, son, that the tone of your literary work is matter of fact. Not many of your stances have wiggle room, and seem to be researched in way to come to an already decided conclusion. This Ron Paul post is one instance of that.

A collection of innocuous pictures, misleading captions, pseudo astronomy (Goro Adachi you are not) and association fallacies vetted with a predisposition on a misunderstanding Paul's central issues. There is an obvious dislike of his supporters which I feel clouds your judgement as well. (I can feel you on that however).

It is extraordinarily easy to sit on the sidelines and discredit the dog and pony show of politics, I have done so for many years myself. But this is a rare opportunity for the majority of brainwashed Americans to be exposed to discourse that questions the lunacy of foreign and domestic policy in this nation. In the very least, this is a victory to the betterment for the world, people are starting to think.

Most Americans fear terrorism.

Most truth seekers fear secret societies.

Fear is the language of powerless.

I'm not a "Paulhead", nor am I trying to convert you to one. I disagree with some of his ideas and dislike his cult of personality supporters as well. He has been ridiculed, marginalized, and laughed at for decades by agenda driven media, thoughtless Americans and now Chris Knowles because they miss his core message.

Allow no agency or entity to control you. Stop fearing. Trust in yourself.

States rights? Restoring the confederacy? Siriusly Chris?

The simple man comes home and wonders what's for dinner.

The complex man comes home and wonders what the meaning of life is, what his place in the universe is, whether there is a Prime Mover...

The enlightened man comes home and wonders what's for dinner.

...or something like that :P

I love you Chris, I love your blog, and look forward to more of your work!

You know what? I keep seeing people saying they're not Paulbots and then turn around and recite all of his intentionally vague bromides like...well, like Paulbots. Sorry, I've seen it all before. I'm not fooled.

I have done the actual research on this guy for a long time now and included dozens of links to back up what I'm saying. You're welcome to try to refute the actual facts of these piece.

The greek-letter fraternity connection to freemasonry is obvious. As is the foundation of many of our civic organizations, from Boy Scouts to Rotary. They are masonic in their origin, ritual, and structure because there was/is no competing form of secular institution from which to draw. There's been a great deal of speculation that the Union Triad (Sigma Phi, Delta Phi, and Kappa Alpha Society) was a reaction to the anti-Masonic movement in Upstate NY. (Sadly) the literature does not support anything other than college kids seeking to legitimize their smoking clubs with highfalutin and often cobbled together initiations and ritual. None of the first person accounts/diary entries of Eliphalet Nott, Jonathan Pearson, and others bear witness to anything remotely masonic taking place during the meetings of these "secret" societies.

Now, of course, that hasn't stopped a few from mythologizing!http://fraternitylodge.org/. But the greek frat/masonic conspiracy really is a historical cul-de-sac.

Folks have to differentiate between Freemasonry and sociopathy. It's the difference between local lodge #1 and Skull and Bones.

The overtly political ramifications of this (seemingly endless) election cycle boils down to the question of… do we want a federal government in place to provide oversight and regulation over corporations who would otherwise run-amok in the name of a global economy (read: NWO)?

…and do we trust in-their-pocket politicians any more than the corporations?

I'm sorry you took my genuine affinity for your blog as backhanded, and I understand it isn't easy to field criticism from the internet without getting defensive. Not my intention at all Chris.

I didn't google Ron Paul and end up on your blog just to defend a "mason, but not a freemason". I thoroughly enjoy your unique ability to tie in the art of comics with synchronicity and life, it's informative as it is entertaining. I only mention my "fandom" of The Secret Sun because I never comment and contribute to your posts.

I am sure you have researched Ron Paul, but with a preconceived notion while doing so? Perhaps, although I, and even the ego within you, can't say for sure. Yes, Alex Jones is a shill and endorses Ron Paul. Great. I am more than reluctant to support anything that comes out of his mouth as well, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't abhor the TSA either.

I suppose my biggest gripe with this post is that you have dismissed an honest and respectable man flippantly with the same fear mongering strategies that Jones applies. In a world where self serving liars and murders run the show, we are going to let font size and the position of Jupiter discredit an entire human being's body of positive community work? Letterheads and fringe endorsements are more of an issue to you than the good that this human has done in their time on earth?

It's that mentality that is the albatross of similar intellectual communities. The fear of the unknown weighting more than the reality of one's actions. How can the world improve if the brighter minds in the population find greater satisfaction in tearing another human down because of a fraternal affiliation?

What about their accomplishments? What have they done to better humanity? What about the commitment to their convictions in the face of overwhelming ridicule? How are we to succeed as a society when those who have dedicated their lives to positive change are reduced to conspiracy fodder?

Ask yourself why an "honest and respectable man" has spent the past 40 years convincing white supremacists, Confederates, Christian Reconstructionists and anti-Semites that he "is one of them" as Don Black and David Duke seemed to agree recently. Why do all of these people think that all of his policies are identical with theirs, albeit dolled up in more socially acceptable drag?

How did he fool them for so long?

Maybe they knew him a long, long time before any of his new fans and knew him a lot better than they do. Know what he says when the cameras and microphones are turned off.

Maybe we need to be skeptical of alternative media as well as mainstream media.

I don't see how the "stop arresting black people for cocaine" guy is a big racist. I think that's a narrative pushed by political elites who feel threatened by the challenge he poses, and if anybody is a racist it's Barack Obama who has done absolutely nothing to improve the fortunes of blacks in this country, but instead goes along with the racist consensus of the mainstream.

If David Duke subscribed to your RSS feed, would that make you a racist as well? Is it any surprise that David Duke would support anyone, mason or not, who advocates limited government? How is that an indictment on Paul's behalf?

Any public figure who does not support financial/military aid to Israel is considered an anti-semite in the mainstream. But does that mean he hates Jews? Paul says no foreign aid to Japan or any other country as well, suppose that makes him a xenophobe.

Would the NAACP come out and defend Ron Paul if he wasn't racist? They Did.

Would the ACLU come out and say Paul is more progressive than Obama? They Did.

Wouldn't those endorsements make David Duke puke?

How could he fool them for so long? What alternative does anyone, including racists, have to the typical big government politician, it's lack of representative choice that Paul garners such wide and eclectic support. Military, OWS, Racists, the Irish. :P

Would Paul have delivered Hispanic babies for free, WITHOUT accepting medicaid had he been a racist? As is in his practice's documents as well as confirmed by his nurses?

Why would Paul present, over and over, to congress (and Morton Downey Jr.) that the war on drugs is an excuse by the federal government to unfairly imprison a vastly larger percentage of minorities to whites. (Crack cocaine (poor man coke) getting much longer sentence than powder cocaine (rich white mans coke))

Sounds like a bigot to me!

I have to ask you Chris, what real evidence do you have to indict this man other than, "well you don't know what he says when the cameras are off."

Gee, I thought you guys weren't Paulbots! Press just a bit too firmly and out come the Ron Paul 2012 FAQ litanies.

Exactly as I expected.

The next round of that goes in the spam file, boys, because that's exactly what you're giving me.

Re-read the piece carefully and it will answer all your questions. These people aren't haters- Strom Thurmond had a black mistress, for crying out loud-- they just share the same political goals of dismantling the Federal government with them.

And Paul's drug war opposition is based in his Libertarian absolutism. It's the same reason he doesn't want any regulation of any kind on any kind of economic activity.

Hi Chris, this is all very interesting from a British perspective. We don't have an exact parallel to Ron Paul over here, but we do have some similar political territory where one might emerge: the "Little Englanders" of the Home Counties (the region around the perimeter of London, down to the South Coast and up towards the Midlands). They are traditionally anti-Europe and historically promoted "Britain first" ideas. These days, their thinking is heavily influenced by American free-market speak and the idea of "shrinking government" is music to their ears. Many of them work in the City of London too and are up to their elbows in Masonry!

We also have an interesting political situation here as the Conservatives have been forced into an alliance with the Liberal-Democrats in order to form a government. Although the Tories (Conservatives) have tried to force through radical changes in our education and health policies that promote the free market agenda, the Liberals have managed to moderate some of these things in practice. The basic idea shared by both parties, though, is to slash public spending to cope with the deficit, regardless of the social consequences. It's also been noted that some of the more extreme Tories are very taken with Ayn Rand and economic Libertarianism.

Many moons ago I too was in that boat but over the past decade I've come to realise that Rand was a monomaniac obsessed to an unhealthy degree with money. So too the economists of the Austrian School, especially Hayek whom Margaret Thatcher treated as a guru whilst she slashed Britain's welfare state. Without a doubt, her economic policies (borrowing heavily from Reganism) started the bubble that led to the current collapse, and also made the City of London even more wealthy. Hardly surprising, then, that the City calls the shots in today's UK politics.

I am deeply sceptical about the type of world these Libertarians want to bring about. I no longer think they have a commitment to liberty or freedom, except for the very rich to do as they damn well please. They have a childlike belief in a fantasy free market that really regulates itself - no kidding! - and dream of pulling away any restrictions on unbridled greed. They act as if the world is labouring under some kind of Stalinist socialism whereas for the past 40 years, free market globalism has been the official creed of most large countries.

Chris, I think you're absolutely right to say that Paul's ideas are underpinned by a feudal vision of society. It's not just a feudal dream of the Old South, it's a feudal dream that could be enacted in the UK too - where feudalism is much closer to the surface. However the USA proudly asserts its "class-less" society even where the facts show otherwise.

In a way, the rise of Paul or someone like him was inevitable. Simply because a portion of his policies are reasonably common-sense, like pulling out of wasteful foreign military adventures, people are willing to overlook his real allegiances. He certainly has the balls to say things that no other Republican candidate could, and has no fear of the party machine that throws up the likes of Romney and Santorum. In many ways Paul is genuine, but that includes the ways that he's genuinely bad news.

Unfortunately there's no counterpart on the Left of American politics: a genuine populist willing to throw a spanner in the works of the Globalist corporate robot. No major figure to speak out against outsourcing, de-skilling or union-busting, except perhaps Michael Moore and he seems like a spent force. And no politician either. So inevitably Paul starts to carry a certain interest from the working-class Left even though he really represents something very different.

Anyway, keep at it Chris, I've always liked your incisive investigations into the area where popular culture meets ancient symbolism. I think that people who don't know about symbols can be too easily manipulated: you throw light on the manipulators no matter what guises they adopt. And the guise of the "plain speaking man" is one of their best ploys yet!

Bit of a synchro moment here - today I've been reading Walter Bowart's Operation Mind Control published in the late 70s. On page 248 (end chapter 17) is this quote:

"The assassin confirmed many of my own conclusionswhich had been based only on research: that an invisiblecoup d'etat had taken place in the United States; that theCIA is only the tip of the cryptocracy iceberg; and thatultrasonic and electrical memory erasure was used to pro-tect "search-and-destroy" operators from their own memo-ries..."

So a few hours after reading that I'm looking at your comment expressing similar thoughts. A cool coincidence and a chance for me to ask if anyone has read Bowart's work?

Faul, I too see wisdom in the ancient system of Freemasonary. I consider Ron Paul an honorable man. Why he named his son Rand is evident to me. Ann Rand was a selfish fascist. TPTB in the grand old party and the democrat party have truly lost the moral high ground. I can accept Ron Paul as an independent only. I do vote, and consider it a duty of all citizens,(as if it matters) (Bush vs Gore vote count/ Supreme court victory). I would vote for Jack shit if he or she would stop the genocide of wars and rumors of wars. Ron Paul does indeed appeal to me on many subjects. However Obama did get us out of Iraq (neocon madness) Barak Obama is an honorable man. I will vote for him again. Dennis Shineforth brave souls!

Wow. LT reader, FT commenter. I must say that I could be considered a Paul-bot so I want to get that put of the way so everyone knows where I was when I approached this new and interesting article.

I'm just not seeing the proof here. I see some fan-made Ron Paul bumper stickers and one incident of RP giving a flimsy handshake. He was a member of a Fraternity in college and comes from the Austrian school of thought on Economics. I just don't see the angle that you see.

Isn't even remotely possible that he chose a Friday to guarantee media coverage in the news cycle for a full weekend. And that his campaign logo is probably developed by someone else who may or may not know what the star or chevron means to us? I mean he's obviously shunned by the media and is hated by the political elite. If there's one thing I've noticed is that the are afraid of his message. If they would have so much to gain, why would they shun him like they do? When he is asked a question I can almost predict every answer because he is so true to his Constitutional convictions. ( Its uncanny and a bit scary sometimes)

I see a miserable world if we continue the path we are on as a country. I see Ron Paul as the only one who tells the truth about it and has a different plan with any type of hope attached to it. I agreed with the above commenter that we are problem identifiers but not offering solutions. This is hard to see at first but easy to recognize once woken up to what this life is all about.

I guess my question is, do we stand by and watch two obvious liars compare notes in a pissing contest (election) or do we ask some fundamental questions about our responsibilities to the human race and this life in general? RP has stoked that fire in my belly on the political front just as you do on the existential front.

Its difficult for me to throw out a lifetime of good deeds because he may or may not be a Mason. I think that if he was he would get a helluva lot more traction from the mainstream media. For me the "walks like a duck" reference is way more apparent to me when I see how he is treated by the establishment media and politicians that he has ideas that scare them. This is my personal experience and convinces me far more than your post.

Seriously though - love your blog and I value your keen intelligence and incite on most of your posts. I guess I'm going with the coincidence theory on this one.

In my former profession,I use to repair a type of machine that was central to a factory process.I would travel all over 2 states when called 24/7.I was an expert on this type of machine.When this machine was malfunctioning the process was'down' and 100's of thousands of $$ were being lost per hour.To make my repairs I had to do what was considered radicalby the bean counters up top.I had to shut the machine down. You could say I had to stop the process completely to repair the "engine" of the process.If I didn't repair this machine it would be dangerous to keep running as well as costly to everyone in the factory.Nobody took notice of this machine until it wasn't working properly.It was considered to be running itself off in some dark and noisy room that people avoided because it was a big scary dangerous beast of a machine that few cared to understand as long as it worked. A few overpaid underqualified drones would putter around it daily pretending to maintain it yet they never truly were allowed to maintain it because it had to be $$$hutdown to be maintained properly and safely.The world machine is broken.The US machine is in need of drastic repair.It is not working properly.It is dangerous and unsafe to keep running.The cost to run it in it's present condition grows daily.Nobody wants to $$hut it down for repair$.It's a good machine this US machine.It use to be the machine that set the standards for all other machines in the world...by example.It could be that again. You could buy a new one I suppose but"They don't make em like they use to!"is what they say about this machine. Making RPaul POTUS just may be the switch needed to shut the machine down for overdue maintenance and repairs.It appears he would be that radical a change to at least stop it for a short time.The longer it limps along in it's present condition the more costly it will be and the longer it will need to be shutdown to bring it back to it's former glory...as the best machine of it's kind ever made.

America is broken because of Globalism, deregulation and free trade, all of which Ron Paul is a fanatic supporter of.

But listen- I get it. OK? All of his positions are code for something else, something he can't talk about openly, right? Republicans don't attack him for that because they want to continue to speak in the Code as well.

I know who exactly "wants their country back." I know which people want to "turn back the clock." I understand the Code- it took me a while but I get it now.

My point is that that Code has been leading those same people to vote against their own economic interests since 1968 and the results have been disastrous for everyone but the super-rich. This is more of the same, plus ultra.

And the hell of it is that Ron Paul could never, ever really stop the military machine because it would plunge the southern half of the country into a subsistence economy overnight. That's the real reason why his party thinks he needs to be handled so gingerly.

If Paul does disavow that ad he can't win can he? He is either a racist, a liar...or both. Right?Again...no proof that those are his feelings.His own words say otherwise. Besides.Lets not askTHOSE types of questions...it'sso politically incorrect...Worse still...the ad implies that Huntsman is guilty by his Chinese associations. What a disgusting thing to do to someone to imply that he would hold the political views of those whom he associates with even when he says otherwise. So prejudice.Terrible terrible.

I (and RP) disagree that free market capitalism broke anything. Corporate monopolies did the breaking(along with a heavy dose of socialism which destroys the individual)..the type JD Rockefeller espoused when he said "Competition is a sin". Of which I have heard RPdecry as what it is ...Corporatism (fascism). He is far from a fan of the Rockefellers. You need to reread your codebook my esteemed host.You begin to sound more like apolitical cynic than a skeptic. I am sure you understand which is healthy and which is nuerotic.

Awesome post, as ever. Firstly, I think that the most valuable aspect of your post aside from the level of verifiable detail is simply your appreciation of context. For me this awareness of context is pretty much captured in these few lines:

"This is about dismantling the Federal system-- finishing the work begun in the Civil War-- and returning to the Feudal system that ruled the South since colonial times. The way things should be."

Secondly, as to a British perspective, and connected to NDL's comments - this feudal system IS being implemented in Britain, IMHO. Again, it's all about context; a thing's interrelationship with everything around it. All things have a gravity, even agendas - and they create observable effects.

Personally, living in London all my life, I've witnessed the gravitational effects of this feudal agenda. This agenda is about the creation of two worlds; the Haves and Have-Nots, and the gulf between them is intended to be vast. This ever-widening gulf seems to be the lit fuse that is intended to thrust the world into a new Dark Age.

The squeezing and shrinking of the middle-classes, the dismantling of the British welfare state, the simultaneous removal of checks and balances on militant corporatism (even after the Banks and economic collapse) - it all highlights the very real and disturbing nature of this agenda.

A Dark Age is basically the endgame for people who believe in a 'natural order to things' - whether they know it or not, but especially for plutocratic elites who believe in an institutionalized, fraternized order of things. An endless unfettered quest for power and domination can have no other logical outcome, if successful.

I mean, look at the criminal nature of most transnational corporations, and then look at the transnational nature of most organised-crime fraternities. All the hideous shit that occurs when money turns an eye blind. A feudal system is about reducing the value of human labor and life to almost nil - a playground for the worst kinds of entities. In this playground you're either Bait, a professional Mercenary or a Player.

I might be wrong, but I think we're witnessing the creation of The Perfect Dystopia, where a handful of powerful cliques literally prey on the rest of humanity. Just take a look around. Racism, sexism, class-ism, xenophobia; throw it all into the cauldron if it helps manifest the Perfect Dystopia - an exceedingly profitable dystopia for the right people.

But for most of us, welcome to the shiny New Underclass. However, I still believe that rigor, discernment and courage are all antidotes to this.

As always-- brilliant insights Raj. Very well put. Well, there will be those of us who want to move forward and those who want to return to the Plantation and beg the colonel for scraps. It's a peculiar strain of Bizarro logic in which liberty means serfdom.

57- So basically Paul would never make an ad identical in tone to his dozens of newsletters but even so that ad is so right on about "those" people, right? See you around sometime, buddy.

57,The idea of us "being friends" with nations like Mexico, whose economy has been absolutely wrecked on account of NAFTA's free trade policies which benefited U.S. agricultural corporations while collectively held peasant farmland was forcibly taken by police, is absurd. Mexicans don't need "friends", they need the ability to return to a traditional way of life since the GMO crops imposed on them have induced widespread poverty and unemployment where previously there was a thriving, efficient agricultural system based on centuries of knowledge. Someone like Paul who is fully supportive of unchecked corporatism will never realize that, as beneficiaries of what amounts to a Mexican servant class, Americans have a responsibility to form a broad-based labor coalition which demands economic justice, and by justice I mean prosecution of financial industry leaders and other economic criminals, for the benefit of people whose livelihood have been destroyed by "free market" policies. To turn our back on the rest of the world at this point means that natural resource wars will show up at our back door quicker than seems possible.

"Mexicans don't need "friends", they need the ability to return to a traditional way of life since the GMO crops imposed on them have induced widespread poverty and unemployment where previously there was a thriving, efficient agricultural system based on centuries of knowledge."

...Qué?

I'm Mexican, and I don't know what you're talking about.

The agricultural system was actually most efficient when it was based on large haciendas controlled by a few rich families, back in the days of Porfirio Díaz. Great for the economy in general, but lousy for the majority of the lower class who were nothing but slaves.

Then came the Revolution, with the cry of "Tierra y Libertad" (land and freedom); and the government started to break down the large haciendas into small communal properties called 'ejidos'. Although this was morally the right thing to do, it turned out to be disastrous because small farmers can't produce as much as large conglomerates.

But I do agree on you about NAFTA. When I was 17 we were told that with the agreement Mexico would enter the 1st world and become and industrialized nation. 20 years later you get to see a lot of BMWs and Mercedes, but the middle class is rapidly fading away. NAFTA was a scam to both our nations.

Nice, Chris. It's hard for me to take the savior in question seriously when I consider him little more than a funnel of a distraction. And I don't expect the incumbent's apologists to see the irony of their lesser-of-evilism through the lens of honest policy comparisons. Eventually, one'd have to come to the conclusion that they're all rotten to the core.

I quite honestly believe that not voting is the most admirable thing one could do. Those who say crap like, "I'm not gonna let someone else choose my leaders for me," are doing just that in this majority rules electoral chicanery.

I've been a dyed-in-the-wool nonvoter for over a decade now. For me, it has to do with being absolute on what I will not sign my name to, and there is no greater evil in the universe that will change that conviction.

But then, taking a page from Citizen's United, I thought: Why not sell my vote? I'm taking the highest bidder as part of my ₫-mar-kr-€-C$-¥ campaign.

Venus- Well put, but you have to realize you're dealing with people who want a relatively socially-acceptable way to practice white nationalist politics. Paul is a genius at triangulating- he sends messages taking straight from Stormfront, the CSA, and so on and then adds a layer of plausible deniability to deflect criticism. Note how Paul still hasn't disavowed this Huntsman ad- he's letting the message sink in to NH's backwoods voters, since Huntsman is his main rival for the secular (sic) second tier. It's the same tactic with the newsletters and the Stormfront involvement in his campaign.

Red Pill Junkie, What I was referring to is the traditional milpa corn, beans and squash interplanting system which is capable of producing far more food than GMO monocrops have since they were introduced via NAFTA corn subsidies. GMO crops have caused mass crop loss and hunger wherever they've been planted. This is what I meant by efficiency, not the production of cash crops for export purposes or the hoarding of food by landed elites. Here is some more information about the milpa system, which many small farmers in the U.S. are still learning from.http://crosscut.com/2011/11/20/food/21581/Green-Acre-Radio:-How-Mexico-struggles-to-defend-against-flood-of-U.S.-grain/

Also, the idea that small farmers can't produce as much as large conglomerates is propaganda, plain and simple. Look into food production at established permaculture farms and you'll see quite plainly that food production per acre is astronomically higher than that of large acricultural corporations.

The Pub/Dem Controlled Opposition "better of two evils" voting trap is a tar baby. In 2012 I allowed a friend to guilt-trip me into voting for Obama as the "better of two evils" when I knew already that Obama was a Neocon Trojan Horse. I rationalized that I was voting for the Obama's Lies about peace and justice, rather than Obama himself, who I knew was a Liar. In the voting booth, I was surprised to discover that Cynthia McKinney, a 9/11 Truther, anti-war activist, and pro-Palestinian, was the Green Party Candidate for POTUS. I experienced severe cognitive dissonance in the voting booth over the McKinney Candidacy, but I followed the mental programming that I brought into the voting booth and I voted for Obama. I have regretted my vote for Obama ever since. In 2012 I shall do my homework very carefully about who the Green Party and alternative candidates are before I decide about voting. If there is no Cynthia McKinney or equivalent on the ballot, I will not vote. I will not play the PTB's "better of two eveils" game. If there is no Candidate who meets my standards, I shall not vote, or I will "anul" my vote, as another poster recommended. - GF

Hello-I'm also a "LT reader, FT commenter" [stumbled here a couple years ago when googling info on the #17 :P ]Have loved this site ever since even though lots of it goes over my head LOL!

Anyway, I wanted to mention that what I choose to do at election time is; go to the polls, wait however long in line, sign my name, enter the booth, pull the lever-without picking any of the freaking puppets! and then leave the booth smiling.That is my vote....None of the Above. Possibly what another poster meant by annulling your vote. It's a message/practice I feel good about.

Also want to share a link to an article about RP with an interesting twist (actually many cool articles there) and I plan to comment and link this Secret Sun piece at that site too.

http://www.robertphoenix.com/content/?p=4523

PS Chris if ever there was a need for another of your brilliant musings on enchantment I'd say now's a good time ;)

Thanks for all you do and to the other regulars who also inspire/inform~Blessings onya~~~jo

>"That is my vote....None of the Above. Possibly what another poster meant by annulling your vote. It's a message/practice I feel good about."

Exactly. It's a way of showing your disdain for all the nominees, and expressing you do not feel represented by any of them, that doesn't end up with you acting like all those others morons that don't vote because they simply don't give a crap.

It's also a way to remind the one who ends up winning that he or she was not chosen by the majority, like they always do when they win by a few percentage of the votes of the people who actually exercised their right.

Granted, it's not a perfect solution. Many people could argue you are just throwing your vote away. There should be legislations that would grant the complete annulling of the election if a sufficient number of annulled votes were registered.

We are nearing the rainbows end me boy.You are serving your Lord Lucifer the Sun of God well in your long ago assigned mission to bring light to the blinded.The closer we come to this point the clearer things become.This is were caution is most important.The hand must only be shown at the precise moment.Do not allow Hubris to lead you astray.I alone am the entity that you serve.The pot of gold will soon be in your grasp.Patience.Patience.Patience.

Red Pill,GMO manufacturers will always monopolize seed production by virtue of the fact that their seeds are bred sterile, meaning that farmers have to purchase new seeds from GMO companies every single season. And since GMOs spread into the environment this means that everyone else will have to as well. This quality of GMOs could easily eradicate the ancient practice of seed saving while making farming exponentially more expensive as well as entirely dependent on transnational conglomerates.

As for mass bee deaths, consider that industrial agriculture is wholly dependent on the use of synthetic pesticides which are designed to kill insects. Pesticides do not have an exception in their design where they can decide not to kill bees. Also, bee deaths in organically raised bee colonies has been a tiny fraction of what has occurred elsewhere. One of the ideas behind permaculture design is to maximize ecological diversity in any given area in order so that insect predators can provide natural checks and balances to prevent crop loss, meaning that no single organism is able to multiply unchecked. You may want to look into permaculture design because it can provide answers to many of the questions you're asking.

My working model of the world is that it is a battleground of sorcerous cabals, in which democratic processes are merely a puppet show masking the real power agendas. In this environment, one must choose his cabal – or if you’re really ambitious – create your own, and from my perspective the Scottish Freemasons are one of the less threatening of the powerful groups.

You have probably already realized that an esoteric perspective on politics largely favors rightist movements, since the democratic and socialistic institutions which the Left has put in place over the past 100 years are anathema to mystical secret societies. I like Raj’s analysis; as we enter the new Dark Age, these democratic institutions are unraveling because they don’t have the deep allegiances which the tribal/religious/esoteric groups enjoy. I certainly am not willing to fight and die for abstractions like “protecting the Constituion” or “fighting Communism” as people in the 20th century did, are you? This probably explains why, wherever modernity comes into contact with militant Islam these days, modernity tends to retreat. It seems fairly obvious to me that modern liberals lack the depth of conviction necessary to maintain their power in a dark age. In three words: modernity is weak. Ron Paul may be a throwback to a more feudal order, but he may also be ahead of the curve. What I see happening everywhere is a return to old allegiances, and it is Obama who is the throwback, to 20th century FDR/Great Society politics which were really a huge aberration, historically speaking.

On a related note, when will you post a similar expose of the real esoteric elephant in the room, the ancient brotherhood which has to an impressive degree taken over America's social programming apparatus since the days of Bernays? This is the coded message of Ron Paul; he is the only mainstream politician willing to stand up to Zionist power and oppose their dominance of American culture, economy and foreign policy. So how about it Chris? Do you have the courage and integrity to discuss this explosive issue and confront the most powerful secret society in America today?

I agree that we need more diversity in our crops, but I guess that's one of the problems of cultural homogenization: Everybody wants to eat the same thing all year-round; orange juice for breakfast and white bread with strawberries, even if the berries traveled 10,000 miles.

I have a few farmer cousins and uncles. They grow soy, wheat and corn, and they are always complaining about the poor prices they get for their crops and all that. I asked them about trying to grow more exotic varieties of crops that would fetch a higher price in smaller niche markets, but they are not the 'improvisation' type of people :-/

Well done, Sean-- you've put your finger on a huge selling point of Paul's admittedly contradictory symbolic stew that a lot of his cultists won't speak out loud. It's not all of the Code, but obviously a major lure for people like yourself.

As to your assumptions about the Scottish Rite, the real concern for me is the Cryptocracy that took control on the evening of November 22, 1963 of which the Rite are just a priesthood for. And your comments are a wonderful example of their operating philosophy that they have convinced millions of people is rebellious and taboo, when in fact it's held dear by the dominant portion of the ruling class in this country, not to mention the world.

With the Neoconservative alliance -- who traditional conservatives thought were insane--now firmly in their camp as facilitators-slash-sacrificial lambs, we'll soon be seeing your worldview soon be externalized.

Full disclosure: I am a Freemason (though I'm not part of the Scottish Rite).

I think you're going down the wrong road linking Paul to Masonry and linking Masonry and the Scottish Rite with some sort of nefarious occult plot.

First, nearly *every* college fraternity can be said to be derived from Freemasonry. Masonry is the model imitated by nearly every fraternal organization, from college fraternities to the Elks, Moose, Red Men, etc. etc. And that's because Freemasonry was incredibly successful and enormously popular.

And the handshake on the insignia is not any Masonic handshake I'm aware of. But nowadays, the Masonic handshakes are only a google search away for anyone, so they're really not "secret" at all. And since many fraternities based themselves upon Masonry, they adopted secret handshakes and other ritual forms of recognition. It's imitation, not allegiance.

If his daughter and wife were in Masonic organizations, I do think it's very likely he is a Mason, however. It's not proof, but very suggestive.

But for every redneck, the-South-shall-rise good old boy in the Scottish Rite (or in any Masonic organization) there are plenty of liberal, free-thinking, non-racist men as well. That's what pleasantly surprised me when I became a member. I was afraid it would be all old, reactionary conservatives, but that's definitely not the case. Otherwise I would have simply left.

Then again, it's easy for non-Masons and critics to say, "Well, you haven't learned the inner secrets yet." And there's nothing I can say to that, except what I've learned about the fraternity is that it is absolutely *opposed* to didactic, top-down control. The Scottish Rite is just one group within the larger fraternity, and they don't wield power outside of their own members. And the Scottish Rite teaches ecumenism, democracy, individual freedom, and tolerance—is there anything in that combination that is out-of-touch with contemporary left-of-center liberalism?

I think it's important to criticize Paul for all of the reasons you've mentioned, but whether he's a Freemason or not has little import in the bigger picture. He's a states' rights, kill-the-federal-government, laissez-faire capitalist lunatic, which is scary enough. I find your research to be on-the-mark in a lot of cases, but equating the Scottish Rite with the very real cryptocracy is (in my opinion) a wrong turn.

Michael, the point of this article is NOT Mason-bashing it's to show that Paul is fundamentally duplicitous and will wear all sorts of masks to achieve his master plan. He's a Mason who thinks nothing of allying himself with Anti Masons (among other things) to achieve his goals. Paul knows a lot of his followers are fantatically anti-Masonic which is why he downplays his well-documented membership in an explicitly Masonic fraternity.

I've said over and over here this is not an Anti-Masonic blog and that the real power-brokers are in senior societies and Masonic fraternities and civic groups and so on, not AFAM. I think it's been this way in America since the Morgan affair.

And I think since so many Mason-bashers subscribe to political philosophies indistinguishable from the predominantly Masonic Southern ruling class it's important to expose the reality.

I work very hard to elucidate my arguments but as soon as you use the word Mason knees on all sides of the issue start jerking. It's a bit dismaying and I think I'll use the opportunity to stop writing about Masonry altogether. I never seem to please anyone.

@sean,Interesting analogy regarding the similarity of secret societies and the elitism inherent in right wing movements. But as for modernity retreating when confronted by radical Islam, that wouldn't exactly be the case with drone warfare.

And one thought about the concept of foreign aid: in many cases this can be an exchange of ideas not limited to the traditional concept of "charity". For example, international seed banks are one way to stop the rise of GMO comanies. My opinion is that, although the concept of an international community has obviously been co-opted by the global power structure, a parallel international network must exist and this is where the real NWO resistance will take place.

Excuse me if this seems off topic but it's the first thing I think of whenever people start talking about secession and the 2nd amendment. An acquaintance of mine wrote a book about social injustice in food production, The Revolution Will Not be Microwaved, citing a community garden in LA where a neighborhood of Mexican immigrants had assembled hundreds of different varieties of native crops, including many that can't be found in the states. Of course, the land was sold by the city to a real estate company and the garden was evicted in a typical example of what constitutes global free trade: small farmers and/or business owners are denied any ability to cross-border trade while old money families make a killing off of the natural resources of foreign countries. Any analysis of the NWO that does not factor in a way to recompensate for that loss of of resources, which essentially amounts to murder for affected communities that no longer have a way to survive, is woefully incomplete.

In the spirit of this blog I highly recommend - The Undicsovered Self by C.G. Jung - for those of you who chase Zionists, Crypto-Masons, and other phantasms in the darkness of your undifferentiated minds.

It's a short read - only 112 pages in the Signet edition, and a good place to start to...

Tasty work. I only take issue with one or two minor details that do not change the overview...but for that whole, it is well done.

The Game Theory machine keeps churning out better fiction and fantasy than any Steven King novel ever written...and will continue to do so as long as sheep need paid, corporate Shepherds.

That is the game after all.Constant agitation, never-ending farces of "political" fights that do not exist...and never really did, solely designed to voter trap untold millions for the past 4,000 years or so...you gotta love it.

All to build a singular, automated system of monolithic "governance" by the obedient workers...heck...in another 30 years...the great "Leaders" will only have to phone-in to the system twice a week to keep it rolling.

After all...we certainly don't want any of the Carny-Barkers to bust a fingernail to run this huckstering hack nightmare.

Thank you Mr. Knowles for responding to my request, I had asked you to write about the Right Wing Patriot Militia branch of conspiracy culture. Actually, I don't know if it was a response to my request or just a response to current events or both. Whatever, great article. Isn't it funny how the Paulbots accuse people who point out bad things about their guru with believing that everything is controlled, and esoteric and clandestine and hopeless when this is exactly what they believe. If Alex Jones pointed out any other world leader giving bizarre handshakes (which he does or did anyway on his website) the Paulbots would believe it, however when RP does it it's just a weak, awkward handshake because he has arthritis. Paulbots and Alex Jones followers also believe most countries are controlled by the NWO, especially socialist/communist countries when an objective reading of history shows that the U.S. and the NATO bloc countries have done everything they can to destroy any government that has the slightest of left leanings. Many of these types will fall all over themselves trying to prove Chavez and Castro are part of some globalist plot, claim Mao and Stalin killed 800,000,000,000 people individually without evidence, yet ignore all of the evidence you laid out in the various links in the article. They pick on the points you make regarding symbolism and handshakes and ignore all of the links to JBS, and Christian Reconstructionism, and Stormfront. Or they'll say "he can't help who supports him, his ideas are still good." Well his ideas are exactly why these groups like him. These groups represent interests that want America to become a giant feudal plantation and they convince a bunch of well meaning people that free markets are freedom and that we're all a nation of John Galts. Someone above asked what was wrong with the confederacy. Is that a serious question? I don't know, maybe slavery. And no, I'm not saying that the North was any better. I realize they wanted to end old school slavery and replace it with wage slavery and duped a lot of well meaning abolitionists into supporting the war, but still both sides were bad. And these factions have never really stopped fighting since, although it's more covert. It's an infowar (where have I heard that before?). As far as RP's antiwar stance, he hardly criticizes the actual devastation caused by our wars on the target population. While he might not be a total isolationist when it comes to trade, he still has the same attitude of classic isolationism, meaning he doesn't criticize the war on the grounds of it being mass murder of foreign populations, he just goes on about how much it's costing us and how our boys (who signed up for it and should have known what they were getting into) suffer. There is never a condemnation of America as an evil empire, the implied message is "they don't appreciate us being over there because they are backward savages so why waste time and money on trying to bring freedom to these heathens." This is what RP means by blowback, which by the way 9/11 wasn't, and of course RP threw many of his supporters under the bus in 2008 by saying 9/11 truth was stupid and harmful to his campaign. This should have alienated these followers but they seem to like being shit on.

@57X Are you seriously defending that racist ad. I mean I don't want to give you ammunition but you could have at least tried to claim it was some kind of false flag attack against RP. Huntsman is guilty of associating with the Chinese, seriously? I mean there is so much wrong with that statement. First, he's the fucking ambassador. Second, I would think being an agent of America and a Republican (I hate Democrats too) would be enough to impeach his character. The ad actually implies he's some kind of Manchurian candidate, as if that would be the worst thing, because all of these true American presidents we've had have been so great, and then those godless sneaky asians had to infiltrate us and turn us all commie overnight (as if China were even a communist country anymore) and we lost all those great American freedoms I've been told we have. Also, the whole concept of a Manchurian Candidate is total cold war propaganda. There is definately hardcore mind control but it's an American innovation. By saying the Russians or the Chinese or Koreans were doing this was a way to excuse this country for engaging in inhumane experiments.

Mr. Knowles I loved how you responded to Sean the Sorcerer's typical "Jew scapegoating" propaganda. They're even trolling your site now, this meme is so pervasive and has an anti-establishment mystique to it. When I troll infowars I get into debates with these people who will criticize Jones but do it from the perspective of saying he's covering for the Jews. Sure, Jones is a schill but he basically says the same thing as the Jew-baiters do, just in code. "It's the Rothchilds, they're the most powerful family in the world." Not that the Rothchilds aren't evil but they're like servents to the real power and I believe they are going to be scapegoated/sacrificed in the near future. I believe a lot of the criticism of Jones from that angle is propaganda emanating from some think tank or the Pentagon. It works two ways. One, it makes Jones seem more reasonable by comparison, at least to non-racist types. Two, if people are starting to distrust Jones (for good reasons) it pulls them into another even more insane camp that basically has the same message only completely decoded. It's funny how these types ignore the real elephant in the room (to borrow their favorite phrase) which is American/Anglo (in that order now) empirialism. Anything to not blame the good old U.S.A. Isn't this how all fascist movements start. Would like your comments on this and also your take on David Icke and Michael Tsarion who I believe push the same line in a pseudo-new agey way. I know you link to them so I'm not trying to start anything but seriously, David Icke calls everyone a Rothchild Zionist and Tsarion pushes overt racism on his forum. He links to websites like the color of crime that says all crime is committed by minorities and basically blames everything on multiculturalism just like the christian patriots do. I know a lot of people here like Tsarion and I did too at one time so I wonder if people have seen this.

it all gets so murky I can't deal with it.There are so many factions and competing ethnic rivalries within the power structure it's impossible to figure out. But if Jews were running the whole show would they allow Germany to become the dominant power in Europe or let all of the old Arab monarchs be overthrown and replaced with hostile Islamicist regimes? Would they allow the Internet to decimate their intellectual property holdings? Of course not. And on and on. There are a lot of powerful Jews and a lot of powerful Gentiles. There are a lot of Jews who are out there fighting the real new world order, not the pantpisser fantasy thereto. The real problem is ideological, not ethnic or religious.

“Unfortunately there's no counterpart on the Left of American politics: a genuine populist willing to throw a spanner in the works of the Globalist corporate robot”

There is however the Occupy Movement, who has collectively shinned a light on the wall-street-corporate-elite-status-quo-political-party-game. They consciously choose a true participatory style of organization.

Well put. The enormous machinery hidden behind the Ron Paul charade is a deliberate attempt to convince young voters that the only viable dissenter is an extreme right crank.(a staunch conservative friend of mine likes to point out that the Extreme Right went so far right, it ended up on the left).

This alienates liberal-leaning young people at the same time leading to apathy or back to the establishment and the mostly young white male contingent of his movement straight into the far right infrastructure, which are openly planning on how to appropriate these new foot soldiers to their cause, after a period of "re-education," of course.

However, this is probably a last gasp. Rand Paul is an irritating dork with none of his father's grandfatherly, Southern gentleman appeal. 30 years ago the establishment could say whatever it wanted in the media but now young people are rejecting corporate media.

As I've seen over and over, Ron Paul is mostly camouflage for right wingers to come across as countercultural or even New Age (and therefore get laid at college parties), but I think his appeals to his counterparts in the theocratic and Confederate communities in Iowa broke the spell. Liberals who supported him are squarely in defense posture now, not a place to launch an insurrection from.

Lots of effort here to burst the bubble of Ron Paul supporters. I think you're right that the effects of his policies, might be even harsher for the have-nots than anything we've seen in a long time.But I think where the extreme right meets the left(military non-interventionism, no drug war) is common ground neither party except for a few rare birds like Kucinich ever touch but seem to be in the best interest of most.It's easy to slam the Confederacy, funny how Lincoln imprisoned so many in Maryland for being anti-war,then spoke lovingly about democracy in his Gettysburg adress.I don't think a Ron Paul presidency would help much, but I do appreciate his raising peoples awareness.

As the word Jew is pretty much useless (and often inflammatory) when addressing areas for greater scrutiny, it's always worthwhile acquainting oneself with the German Reich/Jewish relationship of uncomfortable pragmatism for a more nuanced understanding than the current historical framework of good and bad through the book Transfer Agreement.

On rereading my comment regarding secession I realized it comes across as somewhat confusing, since I both argued for bioregional government and against secession, which is somewhat of an ideological contradiction. The point I was trying to make is that there is a big difference between the kind of secession advocated for by far right elements, which is at least partially motivated by xenophobia and the desire to do away with social aid programs, and the type of secession which is formed around the much more important concern of defunding the military industrial complex. The question is, how can small government movements avoid getting overtaken by some of the more problematic concerns of states' rights advocates, such as reinstating sodomy laws, outlawing medically necessary abortions, doing away with public education, etc?

Because places like Montana and Idaho, even though they are in the North, are absolutely teeming with your stereotypical AM radio-listening conservative patriots. And unfortunately the majority of progressives are in favor of centralized governance since, at least on the surface, the federal government appears to be the only thing holding the far right in check. Coming from a background of practicing a variety of holistic health modalities, it's obvious to me that the federal government has done everything to shut down independent farms and small holistic health businesses, not to mention its involvement in war profiteering. But this connection will not be so obvious to many because who see small government as the domain of far right lunatics. This is the dilemma and another reason why I think an emphasis on sustainable horticulture and holistic health networks independent of the medical industry is the only way the small government movement can possibly expand without turning into a very destructive force.

As always, we agree on basic issues Venus but seem to diverge on language more than anything. I am talking about your latter example of secession and I think a lot of Americans in the Northeast, Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest are sick to death of war and the endless rightward march. They're probably also sick to death of being bled dry when it comes to Federal revenue. My own state gets something like 65 cents back on the dollar while the Deep South gets three to four dollars for the same. This is a direct result of the coup that took power after the Kennedy snuff, as is nearly every major policy this country has enacted. Most certainly the deliberate dismantling of the Midwest industrial infrastructure.

I may have gone overboard trying to point out the limitations of the small government paradigm. Coming from a background of having not one but two sides of the family involved in militant Christian survivalism, I suppose overreaction is in my genes. :)

Chris, I don't think you should stop writing about Freemasonry–I quite enjoy when you make Masonic connections, even if I don't agree with them 100%. It's all grist for the mill.

I understand the point of this post, but was just trying to point out that Masonic influence on an organization doesn't make the organization Masonic. As others have pointed out, the Boy Scouts and nearly every college fraternity emerged from the historic template known as Freemasonry, much as all high fantasy literature is built upon Tolkien's template. Success breeds imitation.

But I do stand corrected about the main thrust of your argument, and apologize for my misinterpretation of it.

Bravo Times a Trillion Chris!!the political articles on Paul are priceless to say the least --he is sure as hell no "Saint" Paul in any circumstance !!!!!!!!and I have just barely got started catching up with your always superb synchronistic material and of course am loving it!!!!!!

a question? you wouldnt happen to know of a "Space" comic from perhaps the late seventies and early 80s would you? this one I remember from the Rocky Mountain News from my days in High School (79 to 83) and this comic had a kind of homoerotic even "Tom of Finland" (sorry dont know how else to describe it:-) look to it and it took place in interstellar space if I remember right.

Thanks again for all you do Chris -I just now started trying to catch up on some blogs after many months absence and I have an awful ot of catching up to do!!the info on Ron Paul are things everyone should know --Tenebroust is also doing a great job getting the word out on him--if anything people should know that he missed voting on the latest police state measure thanks again so much Mr K!!your friend always,Devin

Wow. I didn't know conspiracies went this deep. I created Ron Paul's 2012 logo. I'm anti-occult, I'm Christian, Bible-believing follower of Christ and in no way created his logo to resemble occult signs.

And Skylar (if you are who you claim to be which is an open question with this topic) let me just explain that that the issue isn't what you know or don't about Masonic symbolism- I'm entirely confident you don't know anything about it. The issue is what Paul chooses- what symbols he chooses out of all of the thousands of designs he's presented with. You might design something because it looks nifty and swell, your client may choose it because you stumbled onto something that's meaningful to him.

I'm going to admit that I've been a RP supporter for some time but I certainly wouldn't call myself a "paulbot" (which, by the way is insulting and a turn off if you're trying to convince people that you're right about him- people listen to people who respect them - even if you secretly think they are stupid. Just saying.)

So anyway, I'm open to hearing all sides and you make some really good points, some of which I have wondered about myself - like why the PTB have allowed him to speak out and hold the position he has if they are really on opposing sides. I'm very much aware of the Masons/Freemasons/other secret societies and I don't care what anybody says, they are rotten to the core. They wouldn't have to be secret if they didn't intend to deceive.

Additionally I have recently been listening to interviews with G. Edward Griffin (author of The Creature From Jekyll Island) and, although I could have figured it out - and probably already knew deep-down, I've learned about the Collectivist mentality. Basically the PTB follow public sentiment to figure out "who" would be the best candidate of THEIR choosing in order to stay in power regardless of ideologies. If the people are sick of (what they believe to be) capitalism then the PTB put in place a socialist candidate, etc. Although I'm not sure that G. Edward has considered that RP might be a puppet too, it has crossed my mind.

I'm not saying that I totally buy your argument but anymore nothing would surprise me.

But what I REALLY wanted to comment on was the undertones of fear in your article and in many of the commenters' posts that if RP wins we'd be flung into some feudalistic plantation. I hate to break it to you but we are already ON the feudalistic plantation. Our rights were traded for privileges when our births were registered to the state thereby granting them ownership (title) to our bodies and when we registered for a SSN thereby laboring for the plantation (AKA government corporation).

The black slaves from the south (and those from the north as well) were the first 14th amendment citizens. They traded one form of slavery for another. And around 1933 the rest of us followed suit - except Americans traded freedom for slavery. It's time that people start learning the real history of our government (I.e. corporation) and realize that these people you are trying to expose own EVERYTHING, including our public fool system. We do not get truth from anything they own.

Every time we vote we reaffirm our corporate citizenship and their right to think for us. I intend on canceling my voter registration and to try my best NOT to contract with my masters.

I have never really believed that RP stands a chance because I have known for some time that the system is rigged. If he wins then I'll know you were right.

I find this comment about the Order of the Eastern Star amusing, "But is Paul a Freemason? One fact people have pointed out is that Ron Paul's wife is Eastern Star and his daughters are Rainbow, an arrangement essentially unheard of for a man who is not in fact a Mason himself." I don't think you realize that women can join OES even if their husband is not a Mason. A woman can join OES as long as she has affiliation with the Masons whether it's through her father, grandfather, or some other affiliation. Just because a woman belongs to OES, it does not mean that her husband belongs to the Masons. She may very well have made her affiliation through a grandfather. Regardless, though, who cares if Ron Paul is a Mason or belongs to one of the other secret societies? I think maybe you've watch National Treasure too many times...

White-on White thought crimes are comical to watch... but the National Association of COLORED People endorses Ron Paul! This racist condition - "colored" people are okay, "Black" people, i.e. niggers, aren't - is as old as the private schools I attended where that racist speak was de rigeur,

Ron Paul=Racist. That should be enough for any HUMAN to dismiss him as a leader of any sort (though down here in Texas Land they like their leaders with a touch of good ol' plantation charm).

Now, as far as all this Masonic back-and-forth, let me inform ALL of you of one principle of Western Culture: all of it is stolen and/or co-opted from other cultures. There is not one touchstone of Western Culture that cannot be traced back to another, usually older, socio-cultural construct.

Face it people, the you and yours who are your descendants are straight up thieves. And most of you continue the practice with all the aplomb of the willfully ignorant.

PTB groups, Masons included, use stolen geo-magick to create power centers and power links right here on 1st-21st century Earth; it's just that theirs is magick of the dark sort... it must, after all, be so! How else could and can a collective of people for whom fear is their prime motivator, emit anything but negative energy?! And because fear is the prime mover, the exhibitions of this magick must be, well, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder-like. Why else would every single spot on Earth where Western ideology rules be prominently dotted with magickal symbols? And why else must they secret handshake in public forums, form triangles with their hands, fit hands in suit jackets and over hearts on globally-distributed popular political magazines?

See, humans don't act manically and maniacally unless you're afraid of something. All of these people who come in contact with each other KNOW each other. What do you think, people of other Masonic orders don't know Ron Paul's Masonic affiliation?... oh wait, he has arthritis (how lame can you possibly be)? Or that W" and John "Swiftboat" Kerry are Skull and Bones? Or that Run Jesse Run Jackson and Shaquille "Shazam" O'Neal are of Prince Hall?.. Oh yes, there are plenty of negroes, coloreds, Uncle Toms and Auntie Tomettes runnin' in Massa'a burning house to save his furniture when Massa himself is standing outside thinking about how much grander his new plantation house will look with all that insurance money he'll have at his disposal.

In the end, that people are generally fearful makes total sense; they're but products of this socio-cultural institutional, millennia old, conscious collective, shifted to collective unconscious, fear. However, when sane people such as C. Knowles, at times, express fear, it's only because they know well how an animal reacts when it feels cornered - they will fight to the death and attempt, at least, to kill everything in sight until their fear is sated... and the more the PTB and their overreaching modus openandi is outed, the more afraid they are.

The more afraid they are, the more they perform public handshakes and hand placements, and the more macickally-imbued monumental structures they build. The offshoot of that fear is more, through law and police/intelligence agency lackeys, all-seeing surveillance, and tapping into collective racism (or, peoples' general stupidity, faith in authority/personal laziness) clamping down on us.

So, the question becomes: what do you do when you see clearly what the hell is going on when you know with certainty that most people will act against their own best interests just to be on the what they hope is the winning team - even when they know the leaders of that team will kill them, too, at the drop of a hat, if necessary?

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Alt-History and Pop-Cult Symbology from the author of the Eagle Award-winning Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes, published by Red Wheel/Weiser and co-author of The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series, the Myths, and the Movies, published by Insight Editions.
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